ARVO PÄRT: GREATEST WORKS | NIKO with Orchestra, conducted by Gediminas Gelgotas

An exceptional evening of Arvo Pärt’s music in Vilnius: his greatest works in one concert

Lithuanian audiences are in for a special musical evening this autumn. On October 18, the LVSO Concert Hall will host Arvo Pärt: Greatest Works, bringing together some of the most celebrated compositions by the legendary Estonian composer, one of the most frequently performed contemporary classical composers in the world.

The concert will feature the Vilnius City Ensemble NIKO with orchestra, conducted by Gediminas Gelgotas. Audiences will have a unique opportunity to hear music that has become an essential part not only of Pärt’s artistic legacy, but also of the contemporary classical music canon.

Having celebrated his 90th birthday last year, Arvo Pärt is regarded as one of the most influential composers of our time. Alongside composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and John Adams, he is considered one of the defining figures of contemporary music. Minimalist pioneer Steve Reich once remarked of Pärt’s music: “He doesn’t conform to the fashions of the time, and yet he is enormously popular.”

Pärt’s international fame is closely associated with his unique tintinnabuli style – from the Latin tintinnabulum, meaning “little bell”. With its highly concentrated musical language, tintinnabuli expresses the composer’s profound relationship with silence and reflects a philosophy closely connected with Christian values, religious practice and the search for truth, beauty and purity.

The programme will feature some of Pärt’s most iconic works:

• Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten – an elegiac and hypnotic composition;
• Da Pacem Domine – often described as a prayer for peace;
• Summa – a work of austere clarity;
• Fratres – one of Pärt’s most frequently performed compositions;
• Tabula Rasa – the work that helped establish Pärt’s international reputation;
• Trisagion – one of the significant works of his later period.

The music of Arvo Pärt will be performed by NIKO, one of Lithuania’s most distinctive ensembles, internationally recognised for its original and highly visual performances. The musicians perform from memory, combining outstanding string-playing with subtle visual elements.

NIKO has performed at prestigious venues around the world, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, London’s St Martin-in-the-Fields and Roundhouse, Zurich’s Tonhalle and the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence.

The ensemble has also performed during visits to Lithuania by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis, and has played for Queen Sonja of Norway. NIKO has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists including Kristjan Järvi, David Geringas, Mari Samuelsen, David Nebel, Peter Gregson, Ksenija Sidorova and Francesco Tristano.

NIKO was founded in 2006 by composer and conductor Gediminas Gelgotas, whose own music is regularly performed at prestigious European concert halls and festivals.